Lightweight
by Your Power Is Limitless
Summary: "So many people in this world, in your walls, are misunderstood." he said, looking down at his feet. "That kills people, Mikasa. Humans are the true monsters. And we are their prey."


**My First Attack on Titan fanfiction! May I just say how much I ship Eren and Mikasa? I really do. I mean, I get that they're technically related, but whatever. Oh, and they don't know each other in this. I have an alternate version (one-shot) where they do, if you guys wanna read that just let me know.**

...

Her breath was failing her, though her chest rose with every ragged breath. Sweat developed on her forehead and neck. A dark shadow casted over her face. She could taste blood on her tongue. In her hands she gripped her swords, her hands and fingers trembling from holding them so tight. Her heart raced and skipped. Her head was swimming and it throbbed in pain. She was on her back on the roof of a damaged home. The blinding stare of the sun beat down on her and her eyes squinted against it. She could hear the low but loud groans and growls of the Titans in the city. Pain sounded at each of her nerve ends.

"Mikasa!"

_Ar-Armin? _She thought. His voice sounded so far away.

She closed her eyes again, trying to regain her focus. She sucked in a heavy breath through her mouth.

"Mikasa, hold on!" Armin's voice reached out to her again.

She heard the distant hissing of Armin's 3D equipment as he rushed towards her. She turned her head just enough to see his shadow in the distance as he swung from the buildings. That's when it grew dark above her. Her eyes looked skyward, barely making out the shape of a large hand as it came down on her.

**...**

**_(Half an hour earlier...)_**

"Do you really think there's life outside these walls?" Connie Springer whispered, his eyes glistening with a curious light.

Armin nodded, a childish grin on his face. "My father had a whole book about it. Lands covered in ice and snow, moving fire, saltwater-"

"Wait, water with salt already in it?!" Connie exclaimed. The group around him grew quiet and he received a smack on the back of his head from Reiner Braun.

"But salt is valuable!" Sasha Blouse (or, as her fellow soldiers would call her behind her back, Potato Girl) said, her eyes wide.

"There's too much in the ocean to take." Armin said.

Mikasa sat against the wall, listening to the whole conversation. Indeed, she was curious about the world outside the wall. Whether it was run with titans or just as amazing as Armin's book described it. As if they'd ever find out. They've been confined behind these walls for decades. Any questions about the outside world were ridiculed and looked down upon.

A cup knocked against a table and the group of friends looked up. At the table beside them sat Jean Kirstein. His expression was grim as he glared down at the table. "Bullshit."

"What?" Connie said.

"I said bullshit." Jean repeated. His hand tightened around the cup. "How do we know any of that is true? None of us are brave enough to find out and those that were probably never made it past the titans. We don't even know who wrote the book, let alone when. All we know is life in these walls. That's all we need to know."

Taken back by Jean's words, the others are silent. Mikasa raised her eyes to look at Jean from behind her hair. Such ignorance shouldn't be all in one person. Somehow Jean managed to have it all.

The ground shook with a startling thud in its wake and everyone went silent. The silence was eerily deafening. That's when their answer came.

"The walls have been breached!" a messenger announced, running in through the door out of breath. "It's the Colossal Titan! He kicked a hole in the wall!"

Another heartbeat of silence passed, and mass panic began. Other cadets began screaming and running in hysteria. Mikasa and Armin immediately got to their feet, while the others stared in shock at the messenger.

"Shut up!" The Commander demanded. Slowly everyone quieted down and he cleared his throat. "You didn't suffer five years of training to start acting like a bunch of babies! Get into your squads and await orders! Now!"

"Yes, sir!" everyone said.

Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie and Sasha immediately gathered together before the Commander, ready for instructions. The minute everyone was together, orders were passed out.

"Ackerman! You and your squad head for the center of the city, there are enough that you should be able to handle them all. Move out!" The Commander said.

"Yes, sir!" Mikasa said.

She led her group out the door and onto the outer streets. Towers of stream rose in every direction, giving away that there was a titan in the area. Mikasa gritted her teeth and tensed herself.

"We have to get to the center!" she said. "Take out any titan in your way!"

"Okay!" The others said in unison.

On her count, they activated their 3D gear and slung upward in the air, drawing their swords as they did so. One by one they landed on the nearest rooftop and began running towards the center of the city. At the edge they again swung into the air.

The nearest titan, a 10-meter class, caught sight of them and turned in their direction. His jaw unhinged and he let out a groan as he made his way towards them. Connie, being closest to the titan, was targeted first. He saw as the titan's hand went up and started to come down on him line. He retracted his wire and changed direction last minute, swinging around the titan. He grappled to the titan's neck and, as they were trained to do, cut open his weak spot.

"As if." he muttered before grappling to the nearest building to catch up with his friends.

"He's fine!" Sasha called to Mikasa. "He just came back up!"

"Good." Mikasa said, landing on the building near the center. She took in the sight of the several titans surrounding them and her heart skipped. Did the Commander really believe that this small squad could take all of these titans out?

"What now, Ackerman?" Jean said, a little annoyed.

Mikasa ignored him and took another minute. _Two 10-meter on the left, one 15-meter on the right. Another one right in front. Those are the closest ones._

"Sasha, Jean, take out the two on the left. Connie, Armin, the one on the right." she directed. "I'm going for the one in front."

The rest of them nodded and took off towards their targets. Mikasa readied herself and made her way to her own. She stood on the roof right in front of it, holding her ground. She tightened her grip on her swords, ready to take him out. Except...he wasn't paying her any attention. Most titans would have noticed her by now. Instead he walked right by her, heading for one of the 10-meter class titans a few buildings down. Mikasa watched him, confused as to why he would be doing so. She watched as the titan raised his hand, balled into a fist, and landed a blow right in the other titans cheek. Mikasa took a step back on surprise.

_Is he...an abnormal? _she thought.

The opposing titan roared and raised his fists, the other copying the motion. The 15-meter titan growled and started his attack again.

"Mikasa, look out!" Armin called.

Mikasa looked up just seconds before the titan's hand made contact and knocked her into the next building. She grunted at the impact and tensed.

"Mikasa!" Armin called. "Mikasa, hold on!"

The same hand started to come down again and Mikasa closed her eyes, waiting to to be crushed. But it never happened. The shadow of the hand disappeared and she heard the sound of a titan running, its heavy footsteps shaking the foundation. Mikasa looked just as the abnormal titan collided with the other one, ramming him into the tower behind him. He let out an angered roar as he threw the titan to the ground, stomping repeatedly on the back of its neck before it could get up.

Armin landed heavily next to Mikasa and ran to her, kneeling down. "Mikasa, Mikasa can you hear me?"

"Yeah." Mikasa answered.

Armin grabbed her hand and helped her up, looking out towards the titan. "Is he an abnormal?"

"I'm... not sure." Mikasa said. Her head throbbed where she touched it and she could swear she was seeing double.

The titan looked up from the bloody mess beneath his feet at Armin and Mikasa. More and more titans were swarming the area, three heading for Armin and Mikasa. Armin drew his swords.

"Come on!" he said to Mikasa, aiming his gear at the closest tower.

Mikasa mimicked his movements, but her gear wasn't working. It would hiss, but the hook would stay in its holder.

"Dammit!" she muttered, fiddling with her gear. "It's broken!"

Up ahead, Armin finally looked behind him, noticing that Mikasa wasn't following him. Mikasa looked up to tell him why when she felt a large hand clamp around her. She looked up, eyes wide, only to find that it was the 15-meter titan. She heard each of her squad members cry her name, heard their gear go off one by one. The titan drew his hand in to his chest, rather than to his mouth, and started running for the wall. She knew that, at this rate, her friends would never catch up. This abnormal titan was running much to fast for their gear. They'd run out of gas before they caught up.

"Mikasa!" she heard Sasha yell.

But it was too late. The titan had made it to the wall. He ran through the hole and continued on. Mikasa looked up at him, unable to see past his jaw. Why didn't he eat her? She should've been long dead by now. Or at least inside of him. Yet, here she was, in his hand. This titan was obviously sentient, smarter than the others. Did he plan on saving her for later? Maybe he didn't want to have to fight the other titans for her. That makes more sense than anything, and that doesn't make sense at all. His grip on her loosened noticeably, but not enough for her to fall through.

Mikasa's vision grew blurry and her eyes drooped. Delayed affect of her head hitting the building first? She didn't know. Before she knew it, her eyes were closed and she slipped from consciousness.

**...**

When she finally came to, she was on her back, wrapped up in fur from an unknown source. She shot straight up, gasping for sudden breath, regretting the move as her head swam. She looked around. Where the hell was she? She had high hopes that everything she remembered was a dream, but, by the looks of it, she was wrong. She had been kidnapped by a titan, she was outside of the walls. She was alive, she was sure of that. But where was she? There was a faint glow ahead of her, she could tell it was fire. Someone was here with her. She had to move slowly and act fast if she wanted to get out of... wherever she was.

Her hands went for her swords and her waist and froze. They were gone. Her heart picked up in panic. She had nothing for defense. Except... She reached down towards her boots, feeling around the outside of them, until she touched the handle of something. She pulled it out of her sheath and brought it up to her face. It was a knife, much to small to scare someone but it would have to do. Slowly, she crept out from under her fur and got to her feet. She made to sudden movements as she tiptoed towards the fire, her back to the wall so no one could sneak up on her. Just as she got close to the fire, she heard a voice.

"Hey, you're awake!"

She turned around, knife at the ready, as a boy emerged from the shadows. He had his hands up, fully aware that she had a knife. He was skinny, but had muscles, with a pointed chin and gray eyes. Probably around her age. He was wearing a green shirt and brown pants, a belt around his waist. She looked back up at his eyes, though. They were soft, no sign of a threat in them. Still she kept her knife up. It could be a trick.

"Relax." he said. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Mikasa's hands began to shake, but she kept her weapon pointed at him. He stopped when he was a few feet away.

"Can you speak?" the boy asked. "What's your name?"

The words came to her, but she didn't dare say them. Why would she give her identity away when she clearly had the upper hand?

"You're from inside the wall, aren't you?" he said, a playful smile toying with his lips. "I can tell by your-"

"Who are you?" Mikasa interrupted, her voice trembling.

The boy smiled fully this time, lowering his arms. "Ah, so she can speak." he said. "My name's Eren. Eren Yaeger."

**...**

**And that's it for this chapter! Hope you enjoyed, I have a good feeling about this story!**

**Thanks for reading!**


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